


Christmas Cheer

by bluemadridista



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Wonhyuk - Freeform, sort of, they're in high school but on winter break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 17:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9248564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemadridista/pseuds/bluemadridista
Summary: Minhyuk is a good little boy that spends every Christmas donating his time to help others. Hoseok is a lazy butt forced to give his time this year.Or, cute boys flirting whilst volunteering at a Christmas soup kitchen.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the idea. No infringement of any kind intended.
> 
> Sorry that this wasn't up for Christmas. The holidays were way more hectic than I expected. And sorry that it probably needs a second part, but might not get one?

Minhyuk volunteered in some way every Christmas. (Well, Minhyuk volunteered at least once a month, but he went all out around Christmas.) In 2014 when he was just starting his second year in high school, he single-handedly sold enough magazine subscriptions to provide meals at the little homeless shelter near his house. In 2015, he took it down a notch, but still contributed in a big way by driving the Meals on Wheels truck around the entire city when everyone else refused on Christmas day. He also sang a little Christmas Carol to each recipient. This year, Minhyuk's last year in high school, he had ventured into the big city near his hometown to volunteer at the biggest, busiest soup kitchen. They would be serving a full Christmas dinner-like meal starting at noon and going until nine that night. Minhyuk had signed himself up for a full shift, and arrived twenty minutes early with a beaming smile on his face.

Hoseok usually never left the house on Christmas Day – or any day in the school's long three-week Winter Break. All he needed during winter was video games, food, and sleep. He didn't need holiday cheer or Christmas music. He definitely didn't need crowds of people bustling around in ugly sweaters, swilling Starbucks from cheery holiday-printed cups, and shouting to loved-ones across crowded stores about which gift they'd picked up already. He wasn't a jerk or anything. He could just do without it. Growing up, he and his mother were on their own, and they never had the money to do the gift-giving thing. His gift was spending time with his mother since she worked nights and they frequently missed each other given his school schedule during the day. Now that his mother had remarried and they were living the good life, he still had no need for everyone else's traditional Christmas garbage. His mother and stepfather were away for Christmas that year, and he intended to spend it sleeping and eating as many ramen cups as he could get his hands on. He had started to build his stock two weeks before school let out for break. Then, his principal said the most damning phrase anyone could say to a boy with big plans to do absolutely nothing productive for three weeks: "If you don't get some community service before the New Year, you will not be graduating early in February. You might not graduate at all, if you don't get some hours in before May."

Hoseok's grades were exemplary, because he was naturally intelligent. He didn't have to try. Making an effort wasn't his thing. Doing community service wasn't his thing. Again, not a jerk. Just not into exerting himself. But graduating four months early was a dream come true that he'd been planning since he entered high school. He was not about to give it up. And so, he called every place in the surrounding area, begging for enough hours to satisfy his principal. The soup kitchen downtown was the only place with enough need and enough hours to fill, so he took it. Although, driving deep into the heart of one of the busiest cities in the country didn't really thrill him.

He arrived at the soup kitchen twenty minutes late. TRAFFIC! (And maybe the fact that he left the house fifteen minutes late, because he needed to finish up a round of his latest game obsession.)

"You're late," a blond standing in the serving line chided cheerfully as Hoseok ran back, throwing on an apron, gloves, and a hair net. A hair net?! Hoseok was slightly appalled, but he repeated "early graduation" over and over in his mind to keep focused.

Hoseok chose to use the traffic as his only excuse, leaving out the video game and his own laziness. “What am I supposed to be doing?” he asked the kid who looked way too cheerful for someone standing in a soup kitchen wearing a hair net under a pair of glittery reindeer antlers attached to a candy cane-striped headband.

“Well… I was going to have to take out the trash, but you put on fresh gloves so quickly!” The boy laughed, and his pale cheeks looked a little pink. He reminded Hoseok of a skinny Asian Santa Claus. “So, you stay here and start dipping up some plates while I take this trash out back. Got it?”

“There’s no one here. Why exactly am I ‘dipping up plates’?”

Minhyuk laughed. “You think you just stand here and wait for someone to come? No, no, silly! There are two dining rooms. We tried to get everyone to enter there, and we take the food for them. It’s much cozier in there, and there’s Christmas music!” Minhyuk was all grins. Hoseok looked unamused. “There will be people that come straight to the serving line, and they might even want a to-go plate.”

“Wait, what? Why would they want to go back out into the frigid cold?”

Minhyuk’s face was soft as he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but everyone is different, and I am in no position to judge anyone for how they choose to do things. If they need to avoid looking at me as they take their food and scurry out, that’s okay. I’m just here to make sure that anyone who wants a meal gets one.”

Hoseok narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t being a jerk, just skeptical. He had never met someone that just exuded goodness the way that this kid did. His mother, maybe, but even though she was good, she didn’t seem to have the same blind faith in the goodness of the world that he could see in his eyes. “Is your mom Mother Theresa or something?”

Minhyuk just laughed, and shook his head. “I never thought you’d be funny, Hoseok.”

Hoseok’s eyes widened. “How do you know my name?”

“We go to the same school.” Minhyuk registered the shock on Hoseok’s face, and continued. “Don’t worry about it. We’re not exactly in the same crowd.”

“Are we in the same _year_?”

Minhyuk nodded. “We have AP English together as well. I sit in the front though with the nerds while you sit in the back with the leather jacket crowd and pretend not to be as smart as you are. Name is Minhyuk, by the way.” Minhyuk flashed a smile before he weaved around Hoseok to grab the trash. “Get some plates together, and take them to the dining room on your right! The volunteers will take it from there.”

Hoseok, in a state of shock, just stood there watching Minhyuk as he rushed through the kitchen area and out a rear door with a bag of garbage bigger than him over his shoulder. Who did this kid think he was speaking to him that way? _While you sit in the back with the leather jacket crowd and pretend not to be as smart as you are_. How could he possibly think that?

How could he know just how accurate it was? Hoseok had spent his entire life trying to fit in with the ‘cool kids.’ Since he hadn’t had any money growing up, he relied on attitude. He quickly learned that showing off how smart you were was a major turn-off for the popular crowd. By the time he reached high school, his reputation was pretty well cemented (and the nice car he drove courtesy of his stepfather helped). Still, fitting in never seemed to involve discussing his GPA. How did Minhyuk even know about it? He supposed there were ways of finding out, but his friends never seemed to know. Perhaps they weren’t smart enough to figure it out, or didn’t care enough about Hoseok to make the effort.

Hoseok huffed out a breath. He was standing in a soup kitchen, wearing a hair net. It was no time to be feeling sorry for himself. He might wind up drowning himself in the vat of questionable gravy.

When Minhyuk returned, Hoseok had already completed four full trays and carried them into the dining room. The volunteers had their hands full, passing out small gifts to children, fetching blankets for the eldery, and changing the Christmas music to suit one rather rowdy guest. As such, Hoseok was left to his own devices, carrying food to the nearest waiting person. The last person was an older Asian gentleman that reminded him a bit of his grandfather. The encounter had left him shaken, and rethinking his outlook on the day.

“You look a little green, Hoseok,” Minhyuk commented as he returned to the food station after washing up and pulling on a new set of gloves. “I know that the fruit cake looks a little terrifying, but it’s just cake with weird little fruits in it. You’ll be okay as long as you don’t touch it without gloves.”

Hoseok had to laugh at that. “I’m a little more worried about the gravy.”

“Ah, Christmas’ great lardy offering. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t consume any. Did you take trays in?”

“Four.”

“Four! That’s pretty good. I wasn’t gone long at all. Don’t make me look bad now, Hoseok-ah. I hold the record around here for most plates served in a day!”

“Come here often, Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk laughed loudly. “Was that a pick-up line? Or a genuine question in the form of a pick-up line?”

Hoseok blushed furiously. He hadn’t expected a comment like that out of Saint Father Theresa Minhyuk. “I can’t believe you even know what a pick-up line is,” he admitted, turning back toward the plate he’d been filling when Minhyuk returned.

“Are you kidding? Nerds have a wealth of pick-up lines stored up.”

“Not the nerd thing. Just the halo thing.”

“Halo? How did you know I play Halo? Not all nerds play Halo, Hoseok. That’s nerd stereotyping.” Minhyuk laughed and joined Hoseok in the line to fill a plate.

“Not the video game! The… Never mind. You play video games?”

“Video games are my life.”

“Good to hear. For a minute, I thought this soup kitchen was your life.”

Minhyuk seemed to laugh at the littlest thing. Hoseok found that it put a smile on his face.

 

An hour later, a friendly competition had always been borne out of Hoseok’s boredom with the monotony of creating the same plate over and over again. Who could make the most creative plate in the least amount of time?

Hoseok had taken the first round with a green bean Christmas tree and mashed potato snowman. Minhyuk was the current title holder, however, with his green bean elf – held together with toothpicks and hope.

Hoseok was working on a masterpiece that was sure to overtake him though. He had constructed a ski slope out of mashed potatoes, skis out of green beans with toothpick ski poles. The only remaining element was the most important – his skier. Green beans might have been the easiest thing for the body with an olive for the head, but Minhyuk had utilized that method for his elf, so Hoseok was left to carve turkey into a body. A harder task than one might assume.

Minhyuk had given up trying to construct anything creative, and watched Hoseok assemble his little turkey man. He had to admire Hoseok’s determination.

“I think this should be the last round. You definitely win all the awards.”

Hoseok glanced up at him, still leaned over his creation, and smiled wide. “Thanks, Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk nodded. “I’m gonna take my plate in before it gets cold. Be right back.”

“Sure, sure.”

Minhyuk chuckled for how focused Hoseok was on his tiny sculpture, and rushed off to the dining room.

When Minhyuk returned, his eyes widened. “What happened?!”

“I was trying to attach the head, and the leg broke off. Then the head broke off. Then an arm. I was so frustrated that I decided they had a little accident. That will teach a newbie to take on a black diamond run.”

“You massacred the poor thing.” Minhyuk stepped closer to take in the new creation. The turkey figure lay at the bottom of the potato slope with cranberry sauce splashed over its legs. “This one’s a little dark.”

Hoseok laughed. “Oh, the silly thing just drove me crazy. Everything went wrong after you left.”

“Ohhh!” Minhyuk crooned. “Sounds like you need Minhyukkie for moral support.” Minhyuk fluttered his eyelashes.

Hoseok playfully punched him in the arm. “Here,” he said, handing over the tray. “You take it in. I can’t face them with this tragedy.”

Minhyuk almost doubled over laughing. “You can’t face your public like this.”

“No. I’m ashamed.” Hoseok hid his face with his hands and forearms dramatically.

Minhyuk’s laughter carried as he took the tray and ran off to deliver it.

 

Three more hours had passed when Hoseok turned to Minhyuk, and asked, “Don’t we ever get to eat? We’ve served over a thousand plates, but we haven’t had a bite.”

“The food is for the less fortunate, Hoseok.”

“I’m not suggesting we eat the food meant for them. I’m just suggesting that we eat _something_.”

“It’s only 4:30,” Minhyuk informed him after checking the watch on his wrist.

“I haven’t eaten since 10:00.”

“I have a protein bar in my bag that you can eat. We’ll get a break at five for dinner.”

“This is like slave labor.”

“It is not! Would you cheer up? You’re like a blond Ebenezer Scrooge!”

“I am not! I’m just hungry. I get cranky when I’m hungry.”

“Well, I can see that.” Minhyuk went for his bag, chuckling. He rummaged around until he found the protein bar that he had been saving for his own snack, and handed it off to Hosoek. “That should keep you from massacring another innocent turkey civilian before we get a dinner break.

Hoseok thanked him, and ripped open the package, biting off a large chunk as soon as the bar was exposed.

Minhyuk just smiled, and dutifully went back to work on another couple of trays.

“Is this the only one you had?” Hoseok asked, staring at the half-eaten bar and feeling guilt coiling around his stomach.

“Yeah, I don’t carry a convenience store in my bag,” Minhyuk replied with a goodhearted laugh.

“Oh, but… Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’ll survive until five.”

“That wasn’t really answering my question.” Hoseok moved to stand beside him, blocking him from leaving with his completed trays. “If you’re hungry, you should take the rest.”

“You can have it, really, I’m fine.”

“Well… I don’t want it anymore.”

Minhyuk gave him a look. “I don’t believe you.”

Hoseok stomped his foot, making Minhyuk laugh. “Well, I want you to have it.”

“I’m really fine. Eat it!”

“Well… Then, you have to let me buy you dinner.”

“Hoseok, if you want to ask me out for dinner, you’re going to have to do better than that.” Minhyuk stepped around him, and walked off to the dining room.

Hoseok spun around, jaw on the floor, and watched him walk away. He couldn’t believe that Minhyuk had been so cheeky. He started to retort, to argue that he hadn’t meant it that way. But… maybe he had? Or he could even if he hadn’t. Did Minhyuk know that he liked men? How did Minhyuk seem to know all of his secrets?

 

“I don’t know. I’m observant.” Minhyuk shrugged his shoulders.

Hoseok had just asked him how he seemed to know so much about him when they hadn’t ever spoken.

“So you like to observe me, do you?” Hoseok smirked.

Minhyuk rolled his eyes. “You’re hard to miss.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it however you like.” Minhyuk shoved a bite of sesame chicken into his mouth. The Chinese restaurants seemed to be the only ones open at dinner time on Christmas.

Hoseok took a bite of his sweet and sour chicken, and thought for a moment. “Honestly, though, how do you just observe things like that? I mean, I have never told anyone – not even my parents – that I’m into guys. And no one seems to know that I have a 4.0 GPA. No one really cares to know, I guess.”

“Your parents don’t know how smart you are? How is that possible?”

“My parents know that. The teachers know. But friends and other people don’t know.”

“Your friends don’t really strike me as the types to admire the pursuit of knowledge.”

“I wish I could be like you. You say something so rude, but in a way that makes it sound okay. I do not have that gift.”

Minhyuk laughed. “I wasn’t trying to be rude, genuinely.”

“It’s okay. You’re not wrong. They don’t care anything about learning. If attending school wasn’t a requirement, they wouldn’t be there.”

Minhyuk hummed thoughtfully as he ate a few bites of rice. “I’ve always loved learning,” he admitted. “I’m a nerd.”

“I don’t think that being a ‘nerd’ is a bad thing. I guess I’m kind of a nerd really.”

“You don’t appear so.”

“Yeah, but you can see it, right? You observe me so much.”

“You say that like I stalk you. I don’t stalk you.”

Hoseok laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way! It’s flattering that you like to observe me.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself. You’re hard to miss is all. You’re very outgoing at school.”

“Eh, it’s a façade,” he admitted. “I don’t actually enjoy being so outgoing all the time. It’s tiring.”

“Then, why do you do it?”

He shrugged. “It’s what everyone expects of me now.”

“Well, not me. You can be real around me.”

Hoseok stared at him for a moment. Minhyuk was eating, unaware of Hosoek’s eyes on him. “Does that mean you want to see me after today?”

“We go to the same school,” Minhyuk said, flicking his eyes up from his plate, a look of vague disinterest on his face. “I have to see you.”

“Ah, oh, right!” Hoseok stumbled, his eyes fluttering, and settling on the tray on the table in front of him. “Yeah, yes I suppose you do.”

Minhyuk cackled, and smacked the table causing Hoseok to jump. “Oh, Hoseok. Yes, of course, I would like to see you again. I know you want to see me again. You don’t have to dance around the facts. You can just be straight forward.”

With a blush on his cheeks, Hoseok pretended to be put out for a moment, but a small grin slid over his lips. “Ah, how am I ever going to survive with you seeing right through me like this?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, please do leave comments! If you think it needs/deserves/should have a second part, let me know in the comments!


End file.
